News 2/17/23

News 2/17/23

Top News

Unified communications and collaboration services vendor Avaya, whose healthcare offerings include solutions for virtual care, collaboration, and patient access technology, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in six years.
The Durham, NC-based company reported lower than expected revenue and earnings last year, blaming accounting problems with its cloud subscription revenue, after which it replaced its CEO.
AVYA share price has dropped 98% in the past 12 months, valuing the company at $24 million.

Reader Comments From Baby Payer: “Re: IVF coverage. In an example of our messed up healthcare system, women are taking Amazon jobs and quitting after…

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Retail disruptors face big strategy questions in 2023, says AHA

Retail disruptors face big strategy questions in 2023, says AHA

A new report from the American Hospital Association Center for Health Innovation explores how retail companies and tech giants like Apple and Google will drive transformational change in healthcare delivery in 2023 and beyond.WHY IT MATTERS
With billions of dollars invested this past year, such as CVS Health’s purchase of Signify Health, the AHA report highlights retail healthcare companies having grabbed significant market share in primary care, concierge medicine, virtual care and in-home medical services. 
They’ve also broadened their reach into pharmacy benefits management, behavioral health and other areas, said AHA researchers in the report.
One example is Amazon. While the company is in the process of buying…

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How Rural Healthcare Systems Can Strengthen Their Resilience

How Rural Healthcare Systems Can Strengthen Their Resilience

Hall and other CalvertHealth leaders knew there was room for improvement, but amid tight budgets and competing priorities, an upgrade seemed too expensive. Instead, CalvertHealth migrated its EHR recovery site to Amazon Web Services.Recovery time is now between two and four hours, Hall says, and CalvertHealth has since conducted two failover tests without anyone noticing.
“To me, it was a no-brainer. I thought, ‘If we don’t do it now, we won’t get to do it again.’ As a stand-alone, rural-based organization, we couldn’t achieve this on our own,” she says. “It was a huge win for us, and the driving piece of…

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Which Moves Should Providers Watch From Amazon, CVS & Walgreens This Year?

Which Moves Should Providers Watch From Amazon, CVS & Walgreens This Year?

Primary care has been historically dominated by traditional providers that deliver care via fee-for-service models, but retail companies have been amping up their efforts to disrupt the space in recent years. Over the next decade, it will become increasingly difficult for hospitals and other traditional healthcare providers to ignore these disruptors, according to a recent report from the American Hospital Association. 
The report cited a Bain & Company analysis that predicted disruptors could own as much as 30% of the $260 billion primary care market by 2030. So what moves by Amazon, Walmart and CVS will the industry need to watch to…

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Kami Vision: Detecting and Reporting Elderly Falls

Kami Vision: Detecting and Reporting Elderly Falls

Kami Vision provides technology called KamiCare that helps caregivers in an eldercare community or a person’s home detect and respond quickly to a fall. AI, running right in Kami Vision’s camera, detects falls and reports them to caregivers selected by an app.Watch this short video with CTO Ajay Gulati to see how Kami Vision provides easy setup and flexibility, protects privacy, deals with false alerts, and supports aging in place. Plus, check out their consumer version of KamiCare on Amazon.Learn more about KamiCare: https://kamivision.com/kamicare/Find more great health IT content: https://www.healthcareittoday.com/…

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Merchandising healthcare access: adopting e-commerce techniques

Merchandising healthcare access: adopting e-commerce techniques

As the consumerization of healthcare continues to take shape, the next frontier of healthcare access may well be merchandising healthcare inventory, contended Derek Streat, cofounder and CEO of DexCare, a digital transformation platform vendor.By combining healthcare and e-commerce technologies and strategies, healthcare provider organizations can dramatically improve the digital discovery of care and access to it for patients, he said.
And as workforce shortages continue and tech giants like Amazon push in, these digital consumer experiences will be critical for traditional providers like health systems to operate sustainably, scale care delivery and access, and survive in this competitive and volatile landscape, he added.
We interviewed…

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Virtual care system designed for COVID-19 grows into a multiuse digital health tool

Virtual care system designed for COVID-19 grows into a multiuse digital health tool

In 2019, Cleveland-based University Hospitals saw an opportunity to use automation and digital care technologies to improve patient engagement, clinical care and outcomes.THE PROBLEM
Ultimately, the health system was looking for ways to improve patient engagement first and foremost and then wanted to see how it could use automated tools to improve outcomes.
It also recognized the foundational changes occurring in the health system – especially when it came to consumer behavior and increased competition from nontraditional healthcare disruptors. The organization wanted to offer its patients tools and options that support their personal healthcare journeys in these ways.
PROPOSAL
“We implemented Amwell Automated Care Programs…

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UChicago to launch accelerator for AI and data science companies

UChicago to launch accelerator for AI and data science companies

The University of Chicago this week announced the creation of Transform, an accelerator for early-stage technology companies focused on data science and artificial intelligence.WHY IT MATTERSThe new program – which is part of the Deep Tech Ventures initiative at the UChicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation – aims to offer a wide array of support to startups: access to business and technical training, industry mentorship, venture capital connections, and funding opportunities
Transform is seeking two cohorts of as many as 10 companies each. Candidates should be focused on information technologies and data science: AI and machine learning, data engineering, analytics and…

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What's ahead for health IT policy and legislation in 2023 

What’s ahead for health IT policy and legislation in 2023 

With Congress providing telehealth waivers as part of its omnibus spending bill at the close of 2022, delaying the “telehealth cliff” for two years, HIMSS says it’s now ready to make the case for permanent reimbursement of virtual care.Also on its policy agenda for the year ahead: advocating for data standardization, offering input for interoperability rulemaking and engaging with agencies and states to increase telehealth access. We spoke with the HIMSS government relations team for their thoughts on those priorities and more in 2023 and beyond.
Making telehealth’s case for cost control
Telehealth has proven to reduce burdens on healthcare providers and improve…

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